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Thank You Pinkspoons, EVERY piece of info related to this topic, is helpful to us all.... AND our customers.I have only ever used Royal Mail.Folks tell me fedex and TNT and many other couriers are good, but one gets settled with what they've been doing for years. At the end of the day, it is "US" perhaps who are the best insurance against breakage,by ensuring that our glass is exceptionally well wrapped and packed in the first place, before we then mail it, anywhere. I'd rather spend my time and efforts doing that, than having to spend it chasing Insurance claims etc. and after all, there is no insurance against some courier employees,who think it fun to play basket ball with any box that has FRAGILE tape on it!I have lost count of the glass that has to me damaged, solely due to poor wrapping... which is not the fault of the courier.On the other hand, hand on heart, of the many hundreds of items that I have personally mailed, I can think of only one piece sent to New Zealand, that suffered whilst in transit.None of us want our glass to arrive broken, not to anybody. Insured or not...

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I am enjoying reading all of this , i have bought a fair bit of glass from overseas over 800 items i would think and most is well packed , i have had 2 breakages this year already and both sellers think they packed well , i did not claim, i have received items from most that are on this forum and all were well packed , i would rather pay $50 more for postage than arrive broken , when i am paying $100/s for item i want it to arrive , i have seen couriers and postal workers throw across patio , bounce parcel up and down in arms while walking , i invite them inside and show what they are delivering and havent had a problem since all that deliver here now know , I mostly buy off ebay as there are also many dodgy sellers thankfully i have been lucky, i have been chaseing a cockatoo for 2 years now buy havent been able to get one ,would like the whole thing , Thanks REX

Thank you all for your advice. I have contacted a couple of couriers who will insure if they pack the item but this adds further cost to their already extortionate charges. I will look in more detail regarding points made about Royal Mail by Pinkspoons which I was not aware of as I had been told like so many others that Royal Mail do not insure glass.

I think that the only failsafe way to avoid damage may be to advertise it and ask the buyer to collect. This will restrict it to UK buyers unless others come over to the UK at a particular time of year for antique fairs, but at least I would be able to physically hand over the piece and the buyer would be able to see what they are actually buying.

I think if i brought and sold glass or collected pieces I may be more savy on these matters, so please forgive my ignorance, but the truth is I only have this piece (there may be others when I get to the rest of it) which has been wrapped up in the loft for years as it was given to my Mom by my aunt who had had it some time. Mom does not like parrots and such like so it was never displayed, just packed in a box and put in the loft, but now at 87 has decided to empty the loft!

Can I ask some further advice please - I know the value will depend on condition (a damaged amber centrepiece without a bowl sold on eBay yesterday for £250). My item is blue, does the value vary depending on the colour? I will try to add a picture if this helps.

Once again thank you all for your help I really do appreciate it.

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I use Interparcel for the UK, Parcelsplease for Germany and Holland and transglobal for USA and Australia all being best for those countries.

I had a look at Parcelsplease and Transglobal. Parcel2Go works out a little cheaper than Parcelsplease for Europe - at least on the few testers parcels I ran through their system. Transglobal was about 25% cheaper than Parcel2Go for big international shipments, but for some reason their insurance doesn't cover glass, pottery, antiques, art, etc... for loss. Which makes no sense to me.

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Solar 1 ... SOME would say that Uranium green examples command the highest prices, but much also depends upon ones own individual likes. I personally for example prefer amber, but moods can change. The Brockwitz cockatoo, does appear to be a popular piece in any colour variety. There are many collectors of Brockwitz glass and also collectors who purchase any kind of Bird for example or all flower-frog types. This of course adds to the demand and so a bidding frenzy quickly ensues... £250 for a damaged piece, does seem pointless to me, but then again if it is desperately wanted by a collector, then they will be prepared to spend whatever they can afford. I sold a set in amber (Cockatoo & bowl) this time last year for £275. Privately. I do not sell on eBay. The bowl that you have is recognised as being the correct bowl for the piece, however the cockatoo itself is also shown in original Brockwitz catalogues as a solitary piece, and so it may have also been available as a separate item at time of manufacture?

Racyrabbit2000... Yes, I am disgusted with those couriers who think it funny to handle ANY package without due respect. I was speaking with an ex-employee of Parcel Force once, and he told me that many workers will go out of their way to drop/kick etc. ANYTHING with a fragile tape on it, "just for a laugh!" I did write to Parcel Force about this, but I received no reply. I also think that problems can arise by those who do not sell much glass and so they will not have any idea as how to wrap it accorgingly. An ill-fitting box, or just a few sheets scrunched-up newspaper seems to be OK by them... As a matter of course, I ALWAYS ask a seller (no matter who they be) to wrap & pack my purchase very well, as many need reminding. Folks do not mind you asking them again and again, if of course they are responsible. Purchasers ask that of me all of the time too, and I do not mind at all. I will even send a seller an empty box or two, crammed full of bubble wrap etc. if "I" consider that they require it... I am not interested in collecting Glass Jig-Saw Puzzles. I want my purchases to arrive to me completely damage free, and if I can assist with that, then fine, and NEVER will I accept 2nd Class Postage within England! It's either next day delivery or forget it! And PLEASE dont mail to me on a Friday... My purchase, will be stuck in a Post Office depot with any manner of items stacked upon it during weekend closures. Keep it with you until Monday please... It stands a much better chance of arriving to me safely.I have even gone out of my way, to PURPOSELY DROP a box that I have packed...After all, it is going to be dropped and thrown into a back of a delievery van by who knows who, and if "I" cannot drop it without its contents breaking, then it sure isn't packed appropriately... We who sell glass, have a responsiblity to do our very very best to wrap & pack, or else we should be ashamed of ourselves.We are CUSTODIANS of items (not just their owners) many of which are irreplaceable and with that comes a duty. We all of us carry our packages with care to a Post Office etc...That same CARE, becomes history, once in the hands of some of the Apes who transport them...

There are times when I just wished that I collected FEATHERS rather than glass!

Pinkspoons... I can only imagine that the main reasons that most couriers will not insure against Glass, Antiques & Pottery for example, is that they do not have any control over how those items have been wrapped & packed... I feel certain, that IF they were to make guidelines and instance upon how these items MUST BE PACKED, then perhaps they would insure against any damage.I have to mail a 12 piece Victorian glass epergne, with fragile twisted canes, baskets and flutes, of exceptionally brittle glass to Canada from England next week...It has got to arrive to my customer completely damage free.How would most folks mail it?How would a courier company know, that I had wrapped & packed it appropriately?They sure aint gonna insure it, just by me paying an extra £20 or whatever! Its about time, that THEY gave customers exact advice,and YES even photographic proof by "US" the mailersand then perhaps they would be more obliged to insure it.

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Solar ! you would have to get at least $500 pounds plus for that cockatoo in that bowl if not dont sell , Thats what it is worth to me , I know Nigel would have a better idea on prices ,i was willing to pay that or more for one recently and it never eventuated ,Still looking , REX and Theresa

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